Key decisions awaiting Cuomo's new DEC commissioner

ALBANY — Basil Seggos will take over the state Department of Environmental Conservation during a time of transition for the department.

Former DEC commissioner Joe Martens spent much of his four years grappling with the controversy over fracking. And while Martens ultimately banned the practice, there are plenty of other high-profile decisions awaiting Seggos when he assumes office later this year. He will lead a department through major decisions on natural gas pipelines, nuclear facility permitting and other controversial issues with a drastically reduced staff and diminished enforcement capability.

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In that fraught context, the announcement of Seggos' appointment by Gov. Andrew Cuomo several days ago was greeted enthusiastically by business and environmental groups, many of whom have been meeting with him for years.

“He understands what’s necessary to protect the environment here in New York and balance environmental and economic interests and that makes him uniquely qualified to represent state policy,” said Paul Gallay, executive director of Riverkeeper and a former DEC attorney.

Seggos is a former attorney with Riverkeeper. He also worked at the Natural Resources Defense Council before taking a job in private industry. Most recently, he was deputy secretary for the environment in the Cuomo administration.

The head of the DEC has to withstand some of the toughest political headwinds in Albany — lobbying by industry, but also pressure from dozens of environmental groups on a wide range of issues. Those issues include asking the state to reject at least four natural gas or oil pipelines worth billions of dollars, shut down a proposed gas storage project for the Finger Lakes, increase scrutiny of wetlands, block construction of a crude oil boiler facility for oil trains and tighten protections of the Adirondacks.

On the other hand, if DEC rejects the crude boiler project or the water permits needed for pipelines, the state could face lawsuits that may be difficult — and certainly will be costly — to win. Additional lawsuits may be forthcoming over the state’s fracking ban. What’s more, industry groups spend millions of dollars in Albany annually to employ an army of lobbyists that attack environmental regulations deemed to to restrict business.

Other major issues that could come across Seggos’ desk in the near future include permits needed by the Indian Point nuclear center and the state’s plan to further cut air emissions from power plants. No matter which way the DEC rules on any of those issues, Seggos can expect pressure.

At the same time, DEC has its lowest staffing levels in years, below 3,000 from a high of about 4,000 just a few years ago. That has led to a significant decrease in enforcement actions, according to a 2014 report from Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, and a decrease in compliance with permits held by industry. The administration is expected another year of flat budgets for all departments.

Seggos, however, is accustomed to political pressure — and, as a captain in the U.S. Army Reserve, he is familiar with the stress of leadership. He has been a Cuomo administration insider in recent years, acting as a prime arbiter of the governor's environmental policies. (A Cuomo spokeswoman said Seggos would be available for interview after he takes on his new role.)

Most of the constituencies Seggos will be dealing with had words of praise when word broke of his appointment last week.

“His appointment of Basil Seggos makes it clear that the Governor stands committed to an agenda that is good for the wilderness and good for building more vibrant, sustainable communities in the Adirondack Park,” Adirondack Council executive director William Janeway said.

Seggos was instrumental in shepherding brownfield legislation through the last few budgets, said Darren Suarez, director of government affairs at the Business Council of New York. He showed a willingness to find a compromise that both sides could live with, Suarez said.

“What came out of it was pretty good, the environmental community embraced it and the business community found it agreeable,” he said.

Seggos has represented the Cuomo administration's approach to environmental issues, Suarez said, which includes a focus on the economy that previous governors have rejected.

“The governor has set the tone that the environment and the economy don’t have to be at loggerheads,” he said. “Some environmentalists haven’t gotten that message, but this administration has.”

One of the largest, and most complex, issues Seggos will face is how to craft regulations and policy that prepare New York for climate change, which scientists say will lead to more extreme storms and rising sea levels. Right now, the state DEC doesn’t have a comprehensive plan to address climate change, said Peter Iwanowicz, executive director of Environmental Advocates of New York.

“There is nothing more important than for the Cuomo administration to implement a climate action plan,” he said. “Virtually every decision that is currently, and will come, before the DEC impacts our climate, as do the decisions made throughout state government.”

During a stint at Riverkeeper as an investigator, Seggos was in charge of monitoring compliance with clean water laws and bringing legal cases when government wouldn’t act. That background will be useful as the state addresses its fleet of aging water treatment plants and the continued dumping of raw sewage into the Hudson by municipalities along the river, Riverkeeper’s Gallay said. During last week’s intense rain storm, more than 10,000 gallons of raw sewage a minute was dumped into the Hudson, according to Riverkeeper.

Seggos will have to balance such immediate environmental concerns with the financial constraints of municipalities and the businesses that provide them with revenue.

“It’s a much tougher job than it used to be,” Gallay said. “The problems have gotten more complex. We didn’t talk about climate change in the 1990s.”